Excavation refill packer

ABSTRACT

The excavation refill packer has its principal use as an ambulant ditch packer, a self-contained machine which picks up and screens soil from a pile alongside a ditch and throws the soil into the ditch, by means of a high-speed impeller, with sufficient force to pack the soil firmly without the need for tamping. Apparatus is provided for injecting a closely controlled flow of water into the moving flow of soil to obtain the desired moisture content. The entire machine is controllable by a single operator, who can direct the high-velocity stream of soil to fill the ditch evenly as the machine advances. The machine can be adapted for pack-refill of excavations which are not narrow as the word &#39;&#39;&#39;&#39;ditch&#39;&#39;&#39;&#39; suggests, since the machine can make repeated and progressive passes.

United States Patent [72] Inventor Roy E. Neujahr I540 Nob Hill Drive,Escondido, Calif.

92025 [2]] Appl No 782,210 122] Filed Dec. 9. 1968 [4S] Patented Aug. 3,1971 [S4] EXCAVATION REFILL PACKER 7 Claims, 7 Drawing Figs.

[52] U.S.C| 37/1425, 37/190, 198/9, 198/128, 299/7, 61/721 [51] lnt.ClE021 5/22 [50] Field oiSearch 37/l42.5, 81,90, 190; 61/72.1-72.7; 299/7;l98/9,97, 128; 172/121, 123

[561 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 204,308 5/1878 Fascher .4198/128 2,568,536 9/1951 Beechw. 198/128 2,789,804 4/1957 Toulmin,.1r..37/41 UX 2,857,691 10/1958 Curran .7 37/1425 X 2,947,096 8/1960 Cummingsetal. 37/1425 Primary ExaminerRobert E. Pulfrey AssistantExaminer-Clifford D. Crowder AnomeyKnox & Knox ABSTRACT: The excavationrefill packer has its principal use as an ambulant ditch packer, aself-contained machine which picks up and screens soil from a pilealongside a ditch and throws the soil into the ditch, by means of ahigh-speed impeller, with sufficient force to pack the soil firmlywithout the need for tamping. Apparatus is provided for injecting aclosely controlled flow of water into the moving flow of soil to obtainthe desired moisture content. The entire machine is controllable by asingle operator, who can direct the high-velocity stream of soil to fillthe ditch evenly as the machine advances. The machine can be adapted forpack-refill of excavations which are not narrow as the word "ditch"suggests, since the machine can make repeated and progressive passes.

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INVENTOR.

ROY E. NEUJAHR wmg EXCAVATION REFILL PACKER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention relates to earth-working equipment andspecifically to a ditch packer.

In the usual method of filling or packing excavations such as a ditch,the soil is first dumped into the excavation, then water is applied tomoisten the soil, the final compaction being performed by hammer-typemechanical tampers. This involves three or more pieces of apparatus anda number of operators. The distribution of moisture is not usuallyconsistent and more soil must often be added as tamping proceeds. Oneserious problem with mechanical tamping is the damaging of buried pipesand conduits, this being particularly true in urban areas where waterpipes, drain lines, telephone cable conduits and the like may follow orcross a ditch dug for a specific purpose. Soil specifications often callfor a high degree of compaction and the heavy surface tamping requiredhas been known to break conduits more thanlO feet below the surface.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The machine described herein performs thecomplete ditch packing operation in one pass along the ditch, or inprogressive passes in other excavations, without the use of themechanical tamping. Since the principal use is presently conceived inrelation to refilling of ditches, this specification will relateparticularly to that use. Soil is picked up from the side of the ditch,screened to remove rocks and hard lumps, then driven into the ditch in ahigh-velocity stream with sufficient force to obtain the requiredcompaction. A closely controlled flow of water is injected into themoving stream of soil to give the proper moisture content uniformlyalong the ditch. One operator riding on the machine can control theoperation and can direct the stream of soil to fill the ditch evenly.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevation view of thecomplete machine;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view, partially sectioned on line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an end elevation view taken from the left-hand end of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line 44 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken on line 5-5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line 6-6 of FIG. 5; and

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary side elevation view taken from the left-handside of FIG. 5.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The machine rides on a chassis10 having side rails 12, with front wheels 14! and rear wheels 16. Anengine I8 mounted in chassis It) drives the front wheels 14 through atransmission 20. Alternatively, the rear wheels could be driven and oneor both pairs of wheels can be made steerable by any well known means,the specific details of the chassis not being critical.

Mounted on the chassis is a frame 22 having a pair of Iongitudinal beams24 fixed in spaced relation. The beams are attached to the forward endof the chassis by hinge blocks 26 having a hinge axis substantiallyparallel to the chassis wheel axis. At the rear end the frame 22 isconnected to the chassis by a linear actuator 28 of any suitable type,so that the frame can be inclined relative to the ground over a limitedangular range. Fixed to the forward portion of frame 22 are uprightposts 30 braced by rearwardly extending diagonal members 32. Beams 24project forward beyond posts 30, and secured between the forward ends ofthe beams and the upper ends of the posts are inclined rails 34, onwhich is mounted a conventional bucket conveyor 36. A motor 38 mountedat a con venient position on the frame drives the conveyor, or a powertakeoff can be made to the engine 18. The rails 34 extend downwardlybelow beams 24, so that the buckets 40 are substantially at ground levelat the lower end of the conveyor. Adjustment is made by means ofactuator 28 to raise or lower the conveyor to suit a particular job.Between the rails 34 and posts 30 is an enclosed hopper 42 with a loweroutlet 44. Soil picked up by buckets 40 is dumped into the hopper andpasses through screens 46 to remove rocks and hard lumps. Any wellknownscreen arrangement may be used, with or without vibratory means.

Attached to the lower end of one rail 34 and extending horizontally toone side of the machine is a helical auger 48, driven by a motor 50 tomove soil across to the bucket conveyor 36. The auger is supportedsubstantially at ground level on wheels 52 on a simple frame structure54, the arrangement being well known.

Fixed across the beams 24 just forward of posts 30 is a crossbar 56extending on both sides of the frame. Suspended from the crossbar 56 onthe side opposite to auger 48 is an impeller unit 58, which is balancedby a counterweight 60 on the other end of the crossbar to avoid unevenloading on the machine.

The impeller unit 58 comprises a rectangular box frame with sides 62, afront wall 64 and a rear wall 66, the upper and lower ends beingsubstantially open. Mounted transversely between sides 62 are twovertically spaced impellers 68 and 70. The upper impeller 68 has a shaft72, on which are circular end plates 74 supporting substantially radialvanes 76 extending axially between the end plates. Lower impeller 70 onshaft 78 has a similar end plate and vane structure and is shown asbeing of the same size as impeller 68, although the sizes can vary.

Mounted in the impeller unit forward of front wall 64 is a motor 80driving the lower impeller 70. A belt drive 82 is shown for simplicity,but chain and sprocket means could be used for a more positiveconnection. On shaft 78 is a small pulley 84, coupled by a belt 86 to alarge pulley 88 on shaft 72, so that the lower impeller rotates fasterthan the upper impeller. Again, chain and sprocket drive could be used.While the ratio and speed of the impellers can vary, in one suitablearrange ment the lower impeller rotates at three times the speed of theupper impeller and has a peripheral speed of about I00 f.p.s. At theupper end of the box frame is an inlet ramp 90 leading to a verticalguide plate 92 fixed slightly forward of the impellers, and over the topof the upper impeller is a baffle 94 with a ramp 96 inclined toward ramp90 to form an inlet 98. The out let 44 of the hopper is connected toinlet 98 by a duct or boot 100 of flexible and somewhat extensiblematerial such as rubber, to direct soil into the inlet. The stream ofsoil is deflected by inlet ramp 90 to the upper impeller 68 which drivesthe soil downwardly in the channel between the guide plate 92 and theimpellers. Lower impeller 70 further accelerates the stream of soil,which is ejected through a lower outlet 101. A baffle 102 between theimpellers and a baffle 104 under the lower impeller 70 catch anythrowoff and confine the main stream of soil to the narrow channel alongguide plate 92 with substantially tangential contact with the impellers.

In order to direct the stream of soil the impeller unit 58 is suspendedfrom crossbar 56 by some type of hinged or flexible means. As shown theunit is suspended on chains I06 attached to couplings 108 substantiallyat the central balance point of the unit, but other means may be equallysuitable. When properly balanced the impeller unit can be moved manuallyby a control arm I10 extending forwardly to an operator, who is carriedon a seat 1 I2 fixed on the rails 34, or other convenient portion of theframe. Facing rearwardly from this position the operator can see theportion of the ditch immediately below the impeller unit and direct thestream of soil to fill the ditch evenly. It will be obvious that powercontrols could be used to operate the impeller unit, and that controlsfor all functions of the machine can be brought to the operatorsposition. Since such controls are conventional and can varyconsiderably, they are omitted from the drawings for simplicity. In mostditch packing operations it is necessary to add moisture to the soil,and for consistency this is best accomplished by injecting the waterinto the stream of soil. in the lower portion of the impeller unit 58are two parallel spray bars 114, spaced on opposite sides of outlet l]and extending transversely between sides 62. Each spray bar lllcomprises a fixed inner sleeve 116 having a plurality of spray orificesin the form of slots 1118 opening toward the outlet slightly downwardly.Rotatably mounted on the inner sleeve 116 is an outer sleeve 1120 withcorresponding slots 122, which are brought into register with slots 118by rotating the outer sleeve, the actual slot area thus being variableto control the water flow. The outer sleeves 120 have arms 124 coupledto a control linkage 126, which is accessible to the operator.

To ensure a uniform flow of water a tank 128 is mounted on the rearportion of frame 22 and is connected by a feed hose 130 to inletcouplings 132 and 134 on the two inner sleeves 116 A supply hose 136,for use with a convenient water supply such as a hydrant, is stored on areel 13% mounted on the rear end of frame 22 and pays out as the machineadvances. The supply hose is connected to the tank through a floatcontrolled inlet valve 140 to maintain a constant head of water in thetank and allow close control of the moisture content of the soil.

As the machine is driven along a ditch, as in FIG. 1, the soilpreviously removed and piled in a ridge 1142 is conducted by auger 48 tothe conveyor 36, screened and fed into the im peller unit. The soil,properly moistened, is propelled at high velocity into the ditch 144 andis packed hard into place by the force of the impeller, yet withoutdamaging the conduit 146 laid in the ditch. By moving the impeller unitthe stream of soil can be directed as needed, which facilitates packingaround other pipes or the like that may cross the ditch at dif ferentlevels. The flexible boot 100 deflects to follow the motions of theimpeller unit and maintains a continuous supply of soil from the hopper42. Since the soil is packed as the ditch is filled, the soil densitywill be uniform over the full depth of the ditch. This is not possiblewith mechanical tamping, unless the soil is applied in layers and tampedin stages, which would increase the possibility of damage to buriedconduits and be very time consuming. Instead, the present machineperforms the entire operation in a single pass and more efficiently thanprior techniques.

I claim:

1. An excavation refill packing machine comprising:

a mobile chassis having a frame thereon;

soil collecting and conveying means mounted on said frame to pick upsoil as the machine advances;

an impeller unit on said frame to receive the soil, said impeller unithaving a downwardly directed outlet;

said outlet being shiftable relative to said frame;

means to shift said outlet for better distribution of the soil;

and

means for self-compaction of the soil comprising driven impeller meansin said impeller unit to propel a stream of soil through said outletinto an excavation with sufficient velocity and force to distributivelypack the soil firmly and eliminate the need for tamping.

2. The structure of claim 1 wherein said impeller means in cludes arotary impeller having vanes, said vanes directly contacting said streamof soil adjacent to the radially outer ends of said vanes and having aperipheral speed on the order of feet per second.

3. The structure of claim I, and including a hopper on said frame and asoil conducting flexible boot connecting said hopper to said impellerunit, said impeller unit being suspended from said frame by flexiblemeans and balanced for ease of shifting the impeller unit, said meansfor shifting comprising manual control means for effecting such shiftingto direct highly accelerated soil in a backfilling operation withsimultaneous impaction of the backfill soil.

4. The structure of claim ll, wherein said impeller means comprises alurality of vertically spaced impellers, and means to drive the owerimpeller at a peripheral speed considerably greater than that of theupper impeller.

5. The structure of claim 1, wherein said impeller unit has at least onespray bar adjacent said outlet, with orifices directed toward the pathof the stream of soil;

and a source of water connected to said spray bar.

6. The structure of claim 5, wherein said orifices are adjustable inarea.

7. The structure of claim 6, wherein said source of water is of constantpressure.

1. An excavation refill packing machine comprising: a mobile chassishaving a frame thereon; soil collecting and conveying means mounted onsaid frame to pick up soil as the machine advances; an impeller unit onsaid frame to receive the soil, said impeller unit having a downwardlydirected outlet; said outlet being shiftable relative to said frame;means to shift said outlet for better distribution of the soil; andmeans for self-compaction of the soil comprising driven impeller meansin said impeller unit to propel a stream of soil through said outletinto an excavation with sufficient velocity and force to distributivelypack the soil firmly and eliminate the need for tamping.
 2. Thestructure of claim 1 wherein said impeller means includes a rotaryimpeller having vanes, said vanes directly contacting said stream ofsoil adjacent to the radially outer ends of said vanes and having aperipheral speed on the order of 100 feet per second.
 3. The structureof claim 1, and including a hopper on said frame and a soil conductingflexible boot connecting said hopper to said impeller unit, saidimpeller unit being suspended from said frame by flexible means andbalanced for ease of shifting the impeller unit, said means for shiftingcomprising manual control means for effecting such shifting to directhighly accelerated soil in a backfilling operation with simultaneousimpaction of the backfill soil.
 4. The structure of claim 1, whereinsaid impeller means comprises a plurality of vertically spacedimpellers, and means to drive the lower impeller at a peripheral speedconsiderably greater than that of the upper impeller.
 5. The structureof claim 1, wherein said impeller unit has at least one spray baradjacent said outlet, with orifices directed toward the path of thestream of soil; and a source of water connected to said spray bar. 6.The structure of claim 5, wherein said orifices are adjustable in area.7. The structure of claim 6, wherein said source of water is of constantpressure.